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Garage Door Spring Services
A residential garage door has many parts and pieces that work together to allow your garage door to open and close without you having to think about it after pressing a button. When things go wrong, chances are you’ll seek to find the issue yourself, taking on a home improvement project with the hopes you can DIY the solution without having to replace it with a new garage door. In some instances, this can be a great option, but in other cases, you may want to seek the help of a garage door repair company to complete the tune-up. When it comes to garage door spring repair, we suggest reaching out to the pros for this garage door service.
If your garage door is not electronically operated, it will be especially difficult to manually lift and lower when a spring breaks. As a homeowner, this probably won’t be the most appealing way to access your garage. Some things to consider if you find that your garage door is difficult to open will be that springs lose their strength over time, and as the oil they come installed with begins to fade away, the springs can start to rust and lose their elasticity. And once a spring is compromised, it cannot simply be fixed.
Garage door springs can be under immense tension, and anyone not trained in how to handle these parts and the parts associated with them is at higher risk of serious injury – and that’s the last thing anybody wants. Even for the most experienced DIYer, the weight of the door is no match if you are not equipped with the tools and knowledge of how to properly and safely carry out a garage door spring repair.
Garage Door Spring Replacement
Diving into what it takes to replace a broken spring with new springs should start with understanding what type of springs your overhead door currently has installed. There are two types of springs a residential garage door might have, and this will inform what kind of replacement parts will be needed to complete the job. Once they’ve run their course, it is advised to check your warranty for what options you have for replacing the spring system.
The first type of spring we’ll review is extension springs. If your home is older, it is likely that your home has a single overhead door with an extension spring – and an old spring at that. Extension springs are generally installed along the horizontal track above the door and along the side of the door. When you have an extension spring failure, the garage door opener will not have the support it needs to help open and close the overhead door. As a rule of thumb, extension springs will have a lifespan of around 10,000 cycles and are not rated to handle as much weight as the second type of spring system we’ll go into.
The second type of spring your garage door could have are called torsion springs. Assembled with a cable drum and shaft above the garage door, these spring systems are built to support much heavier loads than extension springs, and you’ll find that most newer homes have two of these installed on their garage doors. Oftentimes, when garage door spring replacement is needed for extension springs, it will be advised to move forward with torsion spring replacement. Torsion springs will have a longer lifespan of around 15,000 to 20,000 cycles and are a sturdier option.
Two Types of Residential Garage Door Springs
Garage Door Spring Installation
Garage door spring installation should always be carried out by a professional repair company. Because the springs themselves and any parts attached to the spring system are under great tension, attempting to fiddle with them can result in unnecessary injury. We don’t want homeowners grabbing a pair of pliers and putting themselves at risk of cables unwinding or a pulley suddenly losing tension just to save money. Wear and tear on your garage door is going to happen, and whether it is due to corrosion or something else, this is one area where an experienced garage door technician’s help with installation is a must.
Common Garage Door Spring Problems
Springs get dry and rusty
As mentioned earlier, garage door springs will come lubricated with oil when they are installed. This allows the springs to have a longer lifespan, as well as helps keep their elasticity and strength over time. When this oil begins to dry out, the lack of oil exposes the springs to the elements, which can cause rust. This can result in the overall strength of the spring to greatly diminish and compromises the functionality of what they are made to do.
Springs Break
When springs break, the garage door may seem impossible to open, especially if you are attempting to lift or lower the overhead door by hand. Springs can break due to the springs being at the tail end of their cycle rating, drying out, or rusting. It is a good idea to pay these spring systems some mind and ensure they are properly oiled every so often.
Frequently Asked Questions
Working with garage door springs can be dangerous if you do not have the right tools and experience. It is typically a low cost to fix the issue, so we always recommend letting professionals do this.
Replacing both torsion springs will cost an average of $250. This cost will include parts and labor costs to get your garage door back on track.
The main benefits of replacing a garage door spring will be that your garage door will operate how it is meant to, and in the case your current springs are extension springs, you’ll have the opportunity to switch those over to the more widely-used standard torsion springs.
The short answer is “no”. Once a garage door spring has been compromised for any reason beyond the oil drying out, the spring cannot be repaired. A broken garage door spring should always be replaced to get it back in proper working condition.
Anything is possible to do yourself, but there is always risk. For fixing garage door springs, we recommend having a trained garage door technician step in for the task.
Contact your local garage door experts
If something’s not right with your garage door, the best course of action is to contact your local experts. At Thompson, we’ve been taking care of garage door needs for homeowners in northern Nevada and northern California since 1957. We provide on-time, excellent service you can trust—including emergency service and same-day service—and fair pricing. Customer satisfaction is our top priority, so give us a call today. We want to make sure your garage door is working well so you have one less thing to worry about. Contact us at 775-356-6601 for questions about your door, installation services, or to get a technician to come fix your door.
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Thompson Garage Doors is here to help you 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. When you call after our normal business hours, your call will be transferred to one of our Emergency Service managers, who will dispatch a service person and a fully-equipped service vehicle to make the repair or secure your building so your property stays protected.
phone: 775.356.6601
toll free: 1.877.631.6601
– 171 S. 18th Street, Sparks, NV 89431